The Pilot Survey 2020 - #thepilotsurvey2020 - GOOSE Recruitment
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The Pilot Survey 2020
#thepilotsurvey2020
Contents Welcome
Welcome from GOOSE Recruitment and FlightGlobal 3
Introduction 5
Demographics 8 GOOSE Recruitment is the name in aviation and pilot
recruitment. GOOSE is part of the Faststream Recruitment
FlightGlobal, part of DVV Media, is the world’s leading
aerospace publisher and content provider delivering
Group, employing over 100 people and with a history professional publications, special reports and online news
What matters most to pilots in their careers? 10 spanning from 1999. GOOSE operates across global and analysis. Alongside its media products, FlightGlobal
hubs in the EMEA, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, offers an aviation jobs board and a series of conferences
servicing their customers, including pilots, aviation and events staged around the world.
Stress in the cockpit 12 professionals and airlines, across the world.
FlightGlobal publishes leading weekly Flight International,
The goose is synonymous with long-distance flying and which marked its 110th anniversary in 2019, and
Mental health 16 incredible teamwork. This aptly represents the foundations established monthly boardroom title Airline Business
of GOOSE Recruitment – an incredible team of recruiters which enters its 35th year in 2020. Flightglobal.com is
striving to be the very best in the industry, here for the the industry’s most visited and trusted website featuring
Pilot job security 20 long-term and spanning the globe. breaking news, analysis and opinion across industry sectors,
as well as a variety of long-form and multimedia content.
Our parent company, the Faststream Recruitment Group is
Pilot retention 21 a global people specialist in shipping, maritime and offshore FlightGlobal’s well established recruitment portfolio Flight
oil and gas recruitment. We know what it is to be truly Jobs, is the home of the best aviation & aerospace jobs
Longevity in the cockpit 22 specialist in a generalist recruitment marketplace. and careers advice that helps recruiters match with aviation
professionals across the globe through an online jobs
www.goose-recruitment.com service, providing tailored solutions and recruitment plans to
Pilot referral 23 achieve greater business success.
www.flightglobal.com
Will technology replace pilots? 24 jobs.flightglobal.com
Which is the best airline to work for? 26
Conclusion 27
PHOTOGRAPHS: Shutterstock and Unsplash
2 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 3
Welcome continued
Introduction
The global aviation market is experiencing some of the performance and pay, job seeking and job satisfaction and
biggest changes the industry has ever seen. The last engagement.
decade has seen an exponential uptick in demand for air
travel. Today’s consumers, both individuals and businesses, The data collected in this survey represents a huge cross-
demand air travel to meet their expectations of being faster, section of the marketplace. Many airlines may recognise the
more convenient, and with more options and destinations breakdown from their own flightcrew.
readily available at the right price.
The aim of this report is to uncover the good and the bad of
The reliance on airlines to meet these ever-increasing the industry, looking at being a pilot from an employment
demands for air travel is more vital than ever, particularly in perspective and discovering where the industry excels and
growing markets such as the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and where it falls short.
China where the speed of demand for air travel outweighs
the supply of experienced pilots. It covers areas such as: what do pilots prioritise in their
working life? Are pilots under excessive pressure to do
There has been much talk over the last few years their job? Is management trusted and respected? Is the
Mark Charman Sophie Wild around pilot recruitment and countless salary surveys sector still as attractive as it once was? Which airlines are
published. However, there has been limited coverage perceived as the most attractive to work for? Do pilots
CEO & Founder of GOOSE Recruitment Director of Content Partnerships & on the wider thoughts and feelings of pilots and their think they will be replaced by autonomous technology?
Recruitment Portfolio at FlightGlobal views of the aviation industry as a whole. The partnership And just how long do pilots plan to spend working in
Mark is the CEO of GOOSE Recruitment and founded of GOOSE Recruitment and FlightGlobal has opened what has historically been an industry of fly-to-retirement
parent company, Faststream Recruitment Group, in 1999. Sophie is the Director of the recruitment portfolio for up an opportunity to create a unique annual survey to careers? These are just a few of the questions which
He has a wealth of knowledge and experience in recruiting FlightGlobal part of DVV and has worked for the business expose, highlight and establish a new benchmark across a are so unique to the industry and ones that only pilots
in high-demand, skill short sectors globally, and he is for over a decade. Sophie’s love of aviation started long number of topics including: health and wellbeing, career themselves will be able to answer.
bringing these new ideas to the pilot recruitment market. before this with her first foot into the world of aviation as
As a Fellow of the Recruitment and Employment Federation, cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic. Since then Sophie has seen
he is a renowned thought-leader in specialist recruitment. a lot of changes to the industry in what is a relatively short
Mark’s involvement as a speaker, panellist and writer space of time for such a well-established sector and prides
provides a head hunters perspective into human factors in herself on staying up to date with the evolving market.
the workplace. This enables Sophie to use this wealth of experience to
advise clients and jobseekers on how to best further their
recruitment and career strategies.
4 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 5
Methodology
The Pilot Survey 2020 was open for four weeks and closed on 1 November
2019. A total of 1,336 pilots took part in the survey, which exceeded our
target of 1,000.
THE SURVEY DATA ANALYSIS
The survey was designed for pilots of all ranks to take part The responses from the survey were analysed to identify
including captains, first officers, second officers and cadets. the most important trends and points of interest in the
research. In addition, our experts around the world have
All respondents answered the questions anonymously reviewed the data to ensure that it reflects the realities of
online using Survey Monkey, an industry-leading survey their local markets as well as global trends.
platform. Pilots were asked 25 questions each and all
answers were held as strictly confidential and the answers We believe that the combination of the survey’s unique
were not linked to any personal data. scale and reach and our market expertise means that
this report delivers a representative view of trends and
DATA GATHERING opportunities in employment and remuneration in our
industry, right across the world.
We promoted the survey using the following activities:
Please note, quotes from pilots represent their thoughts
◆ FlightGlobal and Flight Jobs websites and views and not those of GOOSE Recruitment and
FlightGlobal.
◆ GOOSE Recruitment website
◆ Flight International adverts
◆ Targeted emails to pilots known to GOOSE Recruitment
and FlightGlobal
◆ Pilot forums, including PPrune
◆ Pilot careers targeted emails
◆ Aviation Tribune jobs board
◆ Aviation Tribune aviation news website
◆ Social media, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook
(including pilot groups)
6 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 7
Demographics EUROPE
43%
THIS WORLD MAP
DEMONSTRATES THE
BREAKDOWN OF
RESPONDENTS BY
FLYING REGION
NORTH AMERICA
13% CHINA
1%
THESE CHARTS ILLUSTRATE THE
RESPONDENTS BY RANK, AGE,
FLYING HOURS AND GENDER
ASIA-PACIFIC
RANK AGE 21%
65 plus Under 24
Second years old years old
Officer
2% 4% MIDDLE EAST
2% Cadet
8% & AFRICA
55 – 64
16% 25 – 34
First Officer
20% 18%
28% Captain
45 – 54 SOUTH
62% 30% 35 – 44 AMERICA
28%
4% AVERAGE SALARY BY FLYING REGION
300,000
Captain First Officer
FLYING HOURS GENDER 250,000
Prefer not
Female to say
0 – 500 Average Salary (USD) 200,000
10% 3% 1%
150,000
501 – 2,000
11% 10,001 plus
100,000
39%
2001 – 5000
15% Male 50,000
5001 – 10,000 96%
0
25% Middle East Asia-Pacific China Europe North America South America
and Africa
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What matters most to pilots
in their careers?
For the first time in pilot survey history, we asked pilots what their priorities FLYING JOB PRIORITIES UNDER 24 YEARS OLD
were when considering a flying job. Five factors were provided to rank
from the most important to the least: company culture, training, career
PRIORITY
PRIORITY
HIGHEST
LOWEST
development, salary and work-life balance.
Overall, pilots rated work-life balance as the most It would be unrealistic to ask airlines to take the time to
important factor. But what does work-life balance speak to and understand each individual to recognise it and
really mean? Wikipedia defines it as “the lack of meet the requirements. This would have huge implications Company Career Salary Training Work-life
opposition between work and other life roles. It is the on how rosters would be created and planned, as well as culture development balance
state of equilibrium in which demands of personal life, whether it would require additional personnel.
professional life, and family life are equal.”
“With salary only ranking in the second position as a this going forward, along with balancing the needs and no surprise that pilots in these regions rank career
For pilots, this could have a number of interpretations. priority, airlines may not need to pay pilots more, but wants of older, established pilots. development so highly when they are considering
It could mean going home to their family every evening simply give them better work-life balance,” says Charman. flying jobs”
or, it might be focused on having more consecutive days “We have seen some Middle Eastern airlines actively
off. It might even be that a new roster made up of night What the survey did tell us is that work-life balance was putting this into place with a lot of success. Instead However, in time if this trend continues, it will be the
operations just does not work for their personal life. ranked higher by older, more experienced pilots than of trying to suit each individual’s needs, they have developed markets that reap the benefits of these newly
by those who were at the start of their careers. In fact, created their own culture where pilots from different promoted captains if they decide to come home. This
Mark Charman says: “Pilots are looking for a positive pilots who were under 24 years old ranked their flying generations and cultures can work more harmoniously could create a bigger issue in the long run with a top-
work-life balance – this does not mean that they job priorities completely differently. together,” says Charman. heavy flightcrew and will make it even harder for first
don’t want to work hard, rather they don’t want it to officers to be promoted. It also has huge implications on
negatively affect their home life overall.” There has been much talk in the media about new The survey tells us that a pilot at the start of their airlines in developing markets to manage the pipeline of
generations such as Millennials and Generation Z career will have totally different priorities to older, more new pilots coming through.
Did work-life balance matter 10, 20 or even 30 years having different needs and wants in the workplace in experienced pilots. This is their time to simply build
ago? Unfortunately, this isn’t something we can comparison to previous generations. New generation hours. Once these hours are built along with commercial Do female pilots have different priorities than males?
question in retrospect but if it didn’t matter then, why pilots are no different. Ranking company culture and flying experience, it will enable them to have more While females still ranked work-life balance and
has it become such a priority now? career development as their highest priorities was not a career choices open to them. salary as their top factors, they ranked training as
revelation to us. their third priority. Males ranked this as their lowest
Unlike other modern occupations, pilots will never have In Asia-Pacific and China, pilots flying in these regions priority. We can only hypothesise why this might be.
the luxury of flexi-time or homeworking due to the “Young Pilots are of a ‘Google generation’. They want (not necessarily their native country) ranked career Are females feeling the pressure to be more trained,
nature of the role, so how can airlines make work-life to live the brand and to work somewhere meaningful – development as their second priority. It is in these more qualified than their male counterparts? Are
balance work in the role? they don’t want just a job,” notes Charman. developing regions where many airlines are expanding females finding it difficult in the workplace? Do they
quickly that pilots are having the opportunity to feel under more pressure? There has been much
It is important to remember that work-life balance is New generations have the potential to enter the workplace develop their career quicker than in developed markets, talk about women in a number of careers feeling
subjective and will mean different things to different pilots. and question the norm. The issue is how airlines manage such as North America and Europe. that they need to prove themselves by being more
qualified with more experience than males to prove
FLYING JOB PRIORITIES ALL PILOTS Charman says: “We have seen examples in developed
markets where pilots are having to work 15 years
themselves in their work. Is the career of a female
pilot any different?
plus as a first officer before they are considered for
a captain role. They also need to be successful in From a pilot attraction point of view, airlines that
PRIORITY
PRIORITY
HIGHEST
LOWEST
personality profiling and receive recommendations are able to promote what is important to the majority
from their captains. More pilots are relocating to of pilots will be key. With so many different needs,
developing markets, where airlines are growing and the airlines that most effectively promote their
have huge demands for flightcrew. The expansion employer brand, bringing together these top priorities
of the airline means that many pilots have a greater and knowing what to sell and to who, have the
Work-life Salary Company Training Career and faster chance of promotion than they would potential to be able to attract the best pilot talent in
balance culture development by staying in an airline in a developed market. It is the future.
10 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 11
Stress in the cockpit
Aviation is regarded as a high- We asked pilots how they would rate their stress rotations they are placing on pilots and their fleet? We
level from 1 to 5 (1 being not stressed and 5 being asked the pilots for their own personal experience and
consequence industry, based on the very stressed) on a normal working day. Overall, commentary on why rotations were a stress factor.
fact that if pilots make a mistake pilots answered at an average of 2.5 – moderately Based on this, pilots who were stressed about rotations
stressed. However, 10% of the survey participants shared common thoughts focused around how short the
or something goes wrong with the refused to answer the question which made us turnaround times were, that in turn led to fatigue and
aircraft, the consequences can be question why? stress.
catastrophic. This has the potential With a pilot’s flight status dependent on their mental ◆ “Missing departure slots and taking hours of delay
health and with stress being a major contributor to this, for reasons outside the flightcrew’s control is extremely
to be a highly stressful environment we believe that some pilots might have felt this question frustrating and leads to a very stressed crew. When this
to work in, but do the pilots feel was too sensitive for them to answer. Notably, captains happens on a regular basis in a busy summer schedule it
and pilots flying in Europe were less likely to answer this leads to stress and fatigue.”
stressed themselves? question. We can only speculate that those at the rank
of captain felt that they had more to lose by answering a ◆ “Unachievable turn around times and delays for
stress-based question. which we receive no compensation.”
Pilots flying in the Middle East and Africa were the most ◆ “In my airline, there is a transition in having bigger
stressed with 18% of captains and 22% of first officers aircraft in different routes, so we’re seeing bigger
rating their stress at 4 or 5 (very stressed). aircraft out onto minimum turn around times for an
aircraft that is usually smaller. This then has a domino
North America was the least stressed flying region with effect for the rest of the day.”
no pilots rating their stress level at 5 and more than any
other region answering at 1 (not stressed). ◆ “Short turnaround times put pressure on safety and
on-time performance.”
We pressed further and asked pilots to pick the one aspect
that made them feel the most stressed at work out of five What the commentary from these pilots says to us is that ◆ “25 minutes isn’t enough!”
factors: safety, passengers, management, rotations or they are experiencing high levels of emotion and frustration.
commute. ◆ “Exhausting duties and very limited time to rest in
WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL MOST ◆ “Management is driven by service delivery at the cost of between.”
STRESSED AT WORK? The age group and where pilots were flying influenced professional standards.”
their biggest stress factor with some thought-provoking European air space is a very tight system. If only 25
commentary. ◆ “Poor level of support provided by management. Lip minutes is being allowed for the turnaround and
41%
40 service paid to rosters and lifestyle issues.” something goes wrong, and airlines plan for 100%
35
PILOTS AGED 45-54 ARE occupancy this will always go bad – it is clearly causing
29%
THE MOST STRESSED BY ◆ “Too high hours. Terrible company attitude to fatigue.” pilots to be stressed. The pressure is leading to fatigue
30
MANAGEMENT and this should be a major concern for the industry as a
◆ “Lack of support for front line workers. Reliance on whole.
Percentage of Pilots
25
Pilots in this age group make up some of the most goodwill.”
20
experienced pilots that took part in the survey. These In our experience, it is not uncommon that when flying
15 pilots would have flown through significant changes in ◆ “They try to save money where they should not and on evening flights in Europe there is a delay– usually due
12% 13%
10
the industry, for example, the subject of fuel economy. waste it many other places.” to the airport and airline catching up on a hold-up from
When many of these pilots started flying they would never earlier in the day.
5%
5
have really considered it; the priority would have been PILOTS FLYING IN EUROPE
0 to fly safely from A to B. Today they are under increasing ARE THE MOST STRESSED BY Sophie Wild agreed: “These delays create continued
pressure from management to minimise fuel consumption ROTATIONS stress for pilots of having to reschedule, rework, and
y
rs
t
ns
e
en
t
ut
ge
fe
tio
m
em
Sa
en
and changes like this along with other new rules and sort things out. Their original plan of timings to leave
ta
m
ag
ss
Ro
Co
Pa
an
regulations has potentially influenced their more jaded view Europe is a high pressure, crowded air space, but are that airport has gone out the window. They now
M
Stress factors of management. management being realistic in the demands of the have to talk with air traffic control, negotiate with the
12 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 13
Stress in the cockpit continued
airport for another space, plus management might ◆ “Fear culture present in the operation.”
be on their case about having to try and make up the
time.” ◆ “The culture that has been instilled from the top tier
management is not conducive to optimal operation.
Are low-cost airlines that dominate the European market Blame culture mixed with a very real demonstration
to blame? These carriers will be aiming to fly 13 hours per of money over safety forces a very uneconomical and
day and will crew for this level. However, part of the low-
inefficient operation which leads to blaming and the
cost model has always been to try and squeeze in an extra
cycle continues.”
rotation every day to ensure the business remains profitable.
◆ “Management’s non-compliance with agreements.
Or, is it simply the congested air space of Europe and
the pressure from airports that is to blame for these Management’s general dislike of pilots. Management’s
25-minute turnarounds? unwillingness to listen to good ideas on how things could
be done better or more efficiently.”
PILOTS FLYING IN CHINA, THE
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA ◆ “Fear of getting fired.”
ARE THE MOST STRESSED BY
MANAGEMENT ◆ “It is a reporting culture... My workday revolves
around not screwing up and if I do make sure my
These three market places are the most rapidly management does not find out because if they do I have
expanding markets in aviation, where we are to spend my day off justifying it and potentially losing
seeing more frequently ex-pat pilots relocate for the
my job.”
opportunities on offer in expanding airlines. The
commentary we received from pilots had much focus on
Our final word on the subject is that chronic levels
the culture management were creating.
of stress can negatively impact a person’s health, job
◆ “Don’t feel that management understand or support performance and cognitive functioning. These are all
the pilots. Are looking to blame pilots without realizing key factors in the work of a pilot. Would you want to
how their actions contribute to a culture that leads to be flying with an overly stressed pilot in command? No,
mistakes.” neither would we.
THE CULTURE THAT HAS BEEN INSTILLED FROM THE TOP TIER
MANAGEMENT IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO OPTIMAL OPERATION.
BLAME CULTURE MIXED WITH A VERY REAL DEMONSTRATION
OF MONEY OVER SAFETY FORCES A VERY UNECONOMICAL
AND INEFFICIENT OPERATION WHICH LEADS TO BLAMING AND
THE CYCLE CONTINUES. SURVEY RESPONDENT
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Mental health
In the last decade, there has been a We asked pilots if they felt their current employer cares airlines themselves that this is at the top of their agenda. acting quite himself. But if no one knows you, how
about their well-being. Resoundingly, pilots perceived However, what we are seeing from pilots in this survey would they know if you are behaving out of sorts? We
noticeable shift in attitude towards that they did not, with 59% saying no. In particular, is that they don’t feel this is transitioning through to the also ponder that if a captain was acting strangely or
mental health. Thanks to the those flying in the Middle East and Africa felt less cared front line. The communication is not working. erratically, the chain of command in flying means it
about, with 75% saying no. These regions are operating would be very unlikely that a first officer would question
emergence of social media and the in a fast-growth market and there is potential that So, management is taking this very seriously and could them or even mention the behaviour to someone else.
growing coverage in the mainstream management’s focus is on expansion, rather than their be putting trained mental health first aiders in place at
people. In our opinion, airlines operating in a market of head office. However, how can pilots access this very Are there reporting systems in place for flightcrew to
media, the once taboo subject no exponential growth should surely be making more effort necessary resource when they will rarely go there due confidentially register any concerns? And what would be
longer has such a prominent stigma to be better to employees, and to show how much they
care to aid the attraction of more good people. Retention
to the nature of their job? We also need to consider
how management would know someone was suffering
the repercussions of doing so? They would be putting
another pilot at risk of being grounded just because they
attached to it. It is imperative that we is going to be key for them. No one wants the reputation from a mental health problem unless the pilot told them weren’t acting as they perceived they should be. Clearly,
as the airline that doesn’t care in a highly competitive directly. this might just be how someone is all of the time and so
move mental health to the forefront recruitment market. they are not behaving out of character.
of conversation topics in aviation. Pilots have the potential to be flying with different
Noticeably cadets and second officers in Asia-Pacific collegues every day, especially in larger airlines. They Good mental health is of high importance in a safety-
and North America were much more positive in their may never have met each other before. In an office critical job. We saw the tragic incident five years ago
perception, voting from 60-100% that they believed environment, it might be easy to notice that Roger isn’t where 150 people lost their lives due to the mental
management cared. Is this down to a more rose-tinted
view of the world early in their pilot careers or are they
more perceptive to the signals from their employer?
It was some of the most experienced pilots that felt
the least cared about with 63.5% of 35 – 54 years
olds saying no, they didn’t perceive their employer to
care about their well-being. This age group will hold a
profile dominated by captains. This could be considered
counterintuitive by airlines if they are making their most
valuable, sought after employees feel unvalued. At this
rank, they will be being paid at a higher than average
level. Is the issue that airlines are paying these pilots a lot
of money, so what more do they want?
We probed further on the subject of mental health and
asked if pilots were encouraged by their employer to talk
about their mental health. 65% said no.
“Mental health is not about good or bad. It is about
creating a positive workplace culture where it is ok to
DO YOU FEEL talk about mental health and to share best practises
YOUR CURRENT throughout the business,” said Wild.
EMPLOYER If pilots are working in an environment where they aren’t
CARES ABOUT Yes
encouraged to talk about this important subject and
YOUR No
41%
their mental health deteriorates, what do they do and
WELLBEING? 59% who do they speak to?
We must consider though, the practicalities of managing
mental health in airlines. We have heard from the
16 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 17
Mental health in the cockpit continued
health issues of a pilot. Should we not have seen more directly, but their employers could be providing a
progress towards employers encouraging pilots to talk service to help them.
about the subject?
However, the duty of care will come into this at some
Captains flying in the Middle East and Africa (78%), point. If a counsellor is working with a pilot who is
China (79%) and South America (75%) had a feeling suicidal for example, there will come a point MANY PILOTS WOULD FEEL FEARFUL OF OPENING
particularly poor view of their employer encouraging where they will have to make the employer aware of
them to talk about mental health. this, certainly before their next flight. UP ABOUT A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE THEY WERE
We then asked pilots if they would feel able to speak to There are set procedures in place in airlines for other EXPERIENCING TO THEIR EMPLOYER. WITH THE
their employer if they were experiencing a mental health health-related illnesses and injuries and a set back to work
issue. 63% said no. This is a catch 22 if employers aren’t system will be in place. If employers could get to the point
POTENTIAL TO BE GROUNDED BY SPEAKING OUT, WHO
encouraging this discussion then it is clear that pilots feel where mental health was more openly spoken about and IS GOING TO TAKE THAT RISK? SOPHIE WILD
less confident to open up the dialogue. Evidently, there new policies were put in place to help pilots through these
is a lot of improvement to be made here. times this would be a positive step forward. However, if
a pilot had been experiencing significant mental health-
“Many pilots would feel fearful of opening up about related issues and had been grounded, what would the
a mental health issue they were experiencing to their implications be of sending them back to fly?
employer. With the potential to be grounded by
speaking out, who is going to take that risk?” said Wild. Mental health issues can show in many different forms
from anxiety and depression to alcohol and drug
The key to good mental health is by talking about dependency to eating disorders to name just a few. The
it openly and honestly, as well as picking up any most important thing is that pilots feel that they can talk
issues early on. Would providing anonymous mental about anything that is bothering them, knowing they
health services be beneficial to pilots? They wouldn’t have the support of their employer with policies in place
have to risk their careers by talking to their employers to help them deal with things.
18 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 19Pilot job security Pilot retention
In an industry where the demand for pilots is at a record level, we were If levels of job insecurity are high, what impact does this have on the pilot
shocked that over half of pilots who took part in the survey had been recruitment market? We asked pilots whether in the next two years they
concerned about their job security in the last two years. would retire, change jobs or stay put. Over half of pilots said they were either
planning on retiring or changing jobs.
“We don’t believe that pilots are worried about the role (52%). We must question why airlines wouldn’t be doing
of the pilot per se, but more concerned with the state of everything they can to make female pilots feel secure in An area of particular concern for airlines operating in
the current industry,” said Charman. their role as they are so scarce. However, we know that North America is that 16% of pilots will retire over the
many airlines have and continue to proactively hire more next two years. Although this is certainly not a shock
With numerous airlines announcing closures in 2019, female pilots to work towards a better gender diversity and has been reported widely already, this market is
including legacy carrier Thomas Cook, as well as many balance. Is this concern simply down to market perception surely heading for trouble.
closures in 2018, perhaps it is not so surprising that or are female pilots more concerned in general?
pilots are feeling nervous about their jobs. In an already What might be more surprising for operators in China is that
fragile market, is a ‘fear culture’ being created and are We don’t know what the market holds in 2020. We 13% of their flightcrew will retire over the next two years.
pilots thinking ‘who’s next?’. could see more airlines close as competition mounts,
but we are very interested to see if more airlines close “We put this down to the high percentage of ex-pat pilots
The most concerned age group were those aged 45-54; how this will affect pilots perception of job security. flying in China. They have been attracted to the region for
55% said they were concerned. Charman notes: “These the high salaries on offer. This is their last opportunity to
are potentially one of the most experienced groups make a serious amount of money before they stop flying
of pilots we surveyed and yet are more worried than
AT ANY POINT IN THE LAST altogether,” suggests Wild.
younger age groups. It might be the case that they
TWO YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN
have seen more airlines announce closures in the last WORRIED ABOUT YOUR JOB We will also see a huge demand for experienced captains
two years than in their whole career history.” SECURITY across all regions over the next two years, with 12%
confirming their retirement in this period. Airlines will need to
Pilots flying in North America were the least concerned 58% have started planning the future fallout of those in command
Yes
about their job security; only 30% were worried. with recruitment drives to feed the bottom of the pipeline,
52%
We speculate that they feel more secure in their jobs while also focusing on internal training and development to DO YOU PLAN TO CHANGE
because in many cases demand outweighs the supply of Female enable first officers to earn their extra stripes.
JOBS OR RETIRE IN THE
experienced pilots. 42% Male
NEXT TWO YEARS
No
We now know who is retiring, but who is changing job
We wanted to highlight that female pilots (58%) were 48% in the next two years? Females (52%) were more likely
more concerned about their job security than males 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 than males (44%) to change jobs in this period. We 50 48%
have previously noted that females experience more job 44%
insecurity. This might be increasing their desire for other
opportunities on offer to limit the risk. However, it could 40
also be because females are in demand. They may be
more actively headhunted and have the pick of airlines,
30
as management focuses on better diversity in their
flightcrews. Or, do females simply not feel part of the ‘boys
club’ and are seeking opportunities outside of the industry?
20
Operators in the Middle East and Africa will experience
a flightcrew who are more actively job-seeking. 50% of
10 8%
pilots flying in this region will be considering changing
jobs in the next two years. These regions will need to
focus on better retention strategies as well as how their 0
future candidate attraction plans will enable feeding Retire Change Stay put
jobs
the future pipeline required for this loss of pilots.
20 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 21Longevity in the cockpit Pilot referral
Given the huge investment they expect to have a number of different careers in their We wanted to find out if those ◆ “The pressure for efficiency from all airlines has changed
lifetime. They simply might not see that after training to the industry too far from a work-life balance point of view.
to become a pilot we were become a pilot that they will do this forever. surveyed would choose a pilot I feel constantly tired, sometimes fatigued but feel undue
surprised that only 71% of career again if they had the pressure from my employer if I speak up. I am guiding my
“A ‘job for life’ might not be realistic anymore,” says sons away from a career in aviation as I feel now employees
pilots agreed they would fly to Charman. chance. Again, 71% agreed that are being exploited beyond what is reasonable.”
retirement age. We are already they would. Those flying in South
Or are pilots feeling more burnt out at a younger stage ◆ “I would not encourage anyone to pay for pilot
facing an industry-wide issue of in their career? We have already mentioned that pilots America (96%), North America training because the jobs are few and far between, most
a shortage of experienced pilots are feeling fatigued by the pressures of the job and
(81%) and China (80%) were the jobs are going to be and are now out to contracts for six
perhaps they just don’t think they can keep going to months where they want you to fly a year’s hours in six
in the market, let alone a future retirement age. We wonder if airlines looked more at most likely to repeat their career months and then not pay you for the other six months
potential issue of pilots not flying work-life balance and some of the stress factors pilots
have cited that more pilots might reconsider flying to
choice. Those flying in Europe were when you have no work.”
to retirement age. retirement age. less likely, with only 67% agreeing. ◆ “Airlines see pilots as consumables and as a cost.
Considering the amount of training and assessment
◆ “I’m 50 years old and plan to go part-time as soon as involved, we should have much better job security and
Taking this further we enquired whether they would
In particular, 46% of captains flying in China, 44% of possible and have brought my retirement plans forward stability. Pilots should be on the same level as doctors, not
recommend a career as a pilot to young people and fewer
first officers in the Middle East and Africa and 37% of by about seven years. I keep myself fit but feel my health seen as a cost to the airline.”
pilots would. Only 57% concurred. Has the life of a pilot
25 to 34-year-olds will not fly to retirement age. is suffering from stress levels and the relentless nature of
lost its glamour? In particular, captains were less likely to
the modern working patterns.” ◆ “Flying is driven by productivity. We are now pushing
recommend (53%) and those flying in Europe (53%).
What is clear is that this number represents a potential pilots beyond the limits of their endurance. Fatigue is
change in forecasting for pilot recruitment teams. If ◆ “Regardless that I now have a well-paid job, a good affecting every pilot in my company. Fatigue is the new
recruiters are finding it tough now, they are going to roster, with excellent conditions, and great colleagues, a The commentary from the pilots themselves highlighted normal.”
find it harder in the future as less fly to retirement age totally new career outside aviation seems very appealing how the changes in the industry in recent years has made
and demand for air travel continues. to me as well.” the career less enjoyable than what it once was: ◆ “Aviation is a very expensive and demanding career.
The financial investment and personal sacrifices made
Charman says: “Pilot recruitment teams will need to ◆ “It is not worthy: aviation is the only environment as an individual are extensive just to be met with
consider looking more deeply into their actual people. where you must prove every six months that you are further measures put in place to make finding a job or
Retention rates will need to be considered in a different able to do your job.” progressing in fleet and or companies a lot more difficult
way, taking into consideration those who will retire, in the name of sourcing the best candidates.“
those who will leave to fly for other airlines as well as ◆ “The lustre of airline flying from the ‘80s and ‘90s
those who will not fly to retirement age.” has disappeared. Companies have driven up flying hours
with minimum time off, cumulative fatigue contributing
There could be a number of reasons for this. Younger REGARDLESS THAT I NOW to mental health and wellness.”
pilots may be more disillusioned that they will earn enough
money to retire from flying at a younger age. In particular,
HAVE A WELL-PAID JOB,
research into millennials and Generation Z have found that A GOOD ROSTER, WITH
EXCELLENT CONDITIONS,
WILL YOU
FLY TO AND GREAT COLLEAGUES,
RETIREMENT
AGE?
No
29%
A TOTALLY NEW CAREER
Yes OUTSIDE AVIATION SEEMS IT IS NOT WORTHY: AVIATION IS THE ONLY ENVIRONMENT
71%
VERY APPEALING TO ME AS WHERE YOU MUST PROVE EVERY SIX MONTHS THAT YOU
WELL. SURVEY RESPONDENT ARE ABLE TO DO YOUR JOB. SURVEY RESPONDENT
22 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 23Effect of aircraft technology
on the role of the pilot?
We asked pilots “Are you “Despite a lot of talk five years ago about single-pilot
cockpits becoming a reality in the 2020s or 2030s,
concerned that autonomous starting with freighters before moving onto passenger
technology is making the role of airlines, there has been little progress towards this.
The issue seems to have gone off the boil. However,
pilots redundant in the cockpit?” we believe there is some real concern in the pilot
Four in 10 pilots answered that they community, reflected in the response from pilots to
this question,” said FlightGlobal Safety Editor David
were. Does this reflect a perhaps Learmount.
unjustified or exaggerated fear that
The reality is that modern aircraft are too complicated
the role of the pilot could become not to be automated in some way.
redundant in the near future? Or
We also wanted to find out whether pilots felt they
at least that a move to single-pilot were becoming overly dependent on flight deck
cockpits could drastically reduce automation. A total of 45.5% believed that they
were. While this is still a minority, it reflects a genuine
demand for their skills? concern among pilots that today’s cockpits and an
over-reliance on technology are “robbing them of their
core skills”.
Learmount added: “Cognitive skills are fading. In a
modern cockpit, raw data is difficult to see, unlike the
days of steam dials. The technology is so reliable and
so rarely goes wrong that pilots feel that, even though
they know they should be checking the raw data, they
ARE YOU CONCERNED don’t.”
THAT AUTONOMOUS
TECHNOLOGY IS Pilots can be concerned about losing hand-to-eye
MAKING THE coordination, but this rarely degrades over the course
ROLE OF Yes of a career. What do degrade are cognitive skills and
PILOTS No
40% “you don’t know it’s happening”, said Learmount.
REDUNDANT 60%
IN THE “I believe that overall, cockpit automation has made
COCKPIT? flying safer. Mistakes caused by pilots taking the
wrong decisions in real-life crises – even if they have
been trained to handle them in the simulator – are
behind most loss of control in-flight incidents, the
DO YOU BELIEVE single largest contributor to airliner accidents,” he
YOU ARE concluded.
BECOMING
OVERLY Yes
Airlines could consider putting more emphasis on
DEPENDENT No
45% “personality” when recruiting pilots and not just
ON FLIGHT 55% core experience or skill. Worries about declining
DECK core skills impact pilots’ self-confidence, and this
AUTOMATION? contributes to rising levels of stress (see the section
on stress).
24 #thepilotsurvey2020Which is the best airline Conclusion
to work for?
With competition for the best disruptor brands stood out in the mix: Emirates and 2020 is set to be another exciting year for aviation. We hope that the
Virgin Atlantic.
pilot talent tougher than ever, findings from The Pilot Survey 2020 will bring useful insight for airline
we wanted to find out the carriers Virgin Atlantic has a fun, young brand image perception, recruitment teams and will create some hot boardroom topics. Pilots are
yet is considerably smaller than other airlines featured
our respondents perceived as the in the top 10. Backed by an inspirational leader, Richard changing along with the industry they work in.
best employers. Branson, he is often quoted with sentiments such as:
“Customers do not come first. Employees come first. As businesses operating in the aviation industry, we ◆ Will more females enter the profession?
If you take good care of your employees, they will take eagerly anticipate what the future will bring. In times to
Pilots were only able to make one choice out of a large care of the customers.” We wonder whether this type come, we may see huge changes in how airlines operate ◆ How will new and younger generations change the
number of national, regional and international carriers. of declaration has had an impact on the young brand and recruit. We consider: pilot workforce with different needs and expectations?
National carriers dominated the top 10 whilst no low- landing the third position in the best airlines to work
cost carriers were represented. for? ◆ Will work-life balance become the norm for pilots? ◆ Will management and rotations continue to be the
biggest stress factors for pilots?
The clear winner was the flag carrier and largest German Emirates is renowned for its generous lifestyle and ◆ Will pilots speak freely to their employer of their
airline, Lufthansa. It was perceived overall as the best benefits package, where pilots are offered competitive mental health concerns? ◆ Will we ever enter a time where pilots are replaced
airline to work for across all age groups, rank, flying salaries alongside premium accommodation, healthcare, with technology?
regions and genders. education for children and discounts in the local area. ◆ Will more pilots cut their careers short before
Do pilots value a better lifestyle over other factors we retirement age? It has been a privilege to create The Pilot Survey 2020 for
The top 10 was dominated by legacy carriers but two ponder? the aviation industry and we hope that the insights have
◆ Will China remain a lucrative option for experienced been as interesting and enjoyable to read as it has been
ex-pats? to produce. Mark and Sophie
1 2
TOP 10 PERCEIVED BEST
AIRLINES TO WORK FOR
LUFTHANSA AIR FRANCE
3 4 5 6
VIRGIN ATLANTIC DELTA KLM EMIRATES
7 8 9 10
QANTAS BRITISH AIRWAYS AIR NEW ZEALAND SINGAPORE AIRLINES
26 #thepilotsurvey2020 #thepilotsurvey2020 2728 #thepilotsurvey2020
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